“Really?” She slowly crosses her arms and leans back, staring at me.
“And why not? Why can’t I organise a wedding?”
“Fine.”
I grin at her before tapping her plate. “Eat and then back to bed.”
She stares at me, a scowl on her face, but I just grin back. She eventually turns back and continues eating. Matteo and Luca lock down the house. After the wedding comment, I sit and stare at her. What’s she thinking? Is this just a marriage of convenience? Is she with him? He looks at her some kind of way. But I can’t make out what it is.
Once the house is locked down, they both appear back in record time, not wanting to leave us alone. I’m not crazy. There’s something between them. There has to be. After a painfully long silence where me and Matteo are just staring at each other, Arianna tries to get up. She winces, struggling to her feet and heads back upstairs without a word or a second glance. Matteo flicks his gaze to her for a split second before he stares back at me, and me at him. Neither of us want to be so obvious and make the first move to go after her. But the way he looks at her, I’m not sure what’s going on.
Have they been together, or he just wants to be? Or if it’s something else entirely different, I will be keeping aclose eye on him. I don’t trust him, but then I don’t trust anyone with her. I have to play cool. I have to bide my time. I need her to come to me when she needs me, but fuck if I can’t get the feeling of her body against mine out of my mind. I stand abruptly. I’ve waited long enough.
“Thank you for dinner.” I leave the room and head towards her bedroom.
I take a breath and knock on her door. “Ari.” I wait, but I don’t hear any noise. I knock again. “Ari, it’s me.” The door creaks open. She sighs and steps towards the bed.
I don’t wait for her to say anything. I just step right in, clicking the door closed behind me. There’s a sofa at the foot of the bed. I contemplate sitting there, but she climbs up onto the bed and lies down. She’s changed into her sleep shorts and vest, and her skin is marred with big black bruises from the crash. I make a beeline towards the bed. I climb next to her, resting my back against the headboard. I’ve thought about what I should say. About how to broach the logistics of this wedding. How will we merge our lives? How do we begin to get to know each other? And with all these questions ringing in my head, I ask, “Are you fucking him?”
Her face full of confusion, she stares up at me. “Who?”
“Matteo.” The taste of his name on my tongue makes me grind my teeth. I clench my hands and cross my legs at the ankles, bringing my hands to clasp them in my lap. “Well?”
“Are you kidding me?” She rubs at her face. I stare across the room at the closed door. I take a breath before turning back to face her. I stare down at her. Those beautiful eyes stare back at me, and I sigh.
“I just want to know where I stand. Are we doing this? Or are you doing him?”
“You’re jealous,” she scoffs.
“No, I just want to know where we’re starting from. Are we a thing, or are you with him?”
She sighs and goes to sit up.
“Stay there.”
She huffs out, “Vittorio.”
I wait and I glare at her. I can see I’m being unreasonable. And I need to smooth this over to offer some kind of middle ground, a compromise. So with all that, I go off script and I double down. “Do I need to kill him?” That’s what I really need to know.
She chuckles. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I won’t play second best. If you’re together, I will get rid of him.”
“I can’t tell whether you’re being serious or not.”
I shuffle down until I’m face-to-face with her. I grip her chin firmly, holding her gaze to mine.
“Fucking deadly.”
She smiles at me. A real, genuine smile. She leans forward and gives me the slightest peck on my cheek before pulling back. “Let’s get to know each other first before killing my bodyguards, okay?”
I scowl at her, and we stay like that for a little while. Neither saying another word, trying to figure out everything that each look says about the other. Her eyes start to flutter, and I wait until she’s asleep before moving closer. Once her breathing evens out and her body relaxes, I close the distance. I wrap my arm around her and hold her against me until I fall asleep. Breathing in the endless possibilities I feel are within reach now I’m herewith her. Pushing the issue of the complication that seems to be living here, too, out of my mind, for now.
Arianna
Chapter Thirteen
I wake stiff, sore and locked in a vice grip. My eyes open to see Vittorio’s face right against mine, his arms wrapped around me, and my body wrapped around his. I try to sit. To move. To pull out of his grasp, but I can’t. It feels like his grasp tightens. His vice-like grip engulfs me as I try to move his arm.
